Missing Scenes: The Dream
by QueenHimiko
Summary: After Gourry has been kidnapped, Lina has a nightmare. Novel's continuity.


**AN: I do not own ****_The Slayers, _****I just play in the sandbox**

There was some small measure of relief as the door closed behind Sylphiel, born from the knowledge that if she did break down and start crying at least it would be in private. And at the moment, tears seemed an inevitability as the ache in her heart progressed to her throat, choking her inexorably as feelings of grief and sorrow mounted, causing her head to throb with the pressure of the emotional torrent she had been suppressing for so long.

She forced herself to take a deep breath as she took a few steps to the window and placed her hand against the pane of glass. How she ached to open it! The desire to escape from the confines of her room and go for a late night stroll was overwhelming! But she had learned the hard way that her enemies were not adverse to attacking her at night. And if she was dead, she'd be unable to save Gourry. Much as she hated it, staying in the inn was the wisest course of action, even if it did leave her trapped with the internal storm raging within her.

She pulled up a chair and sat before the window, leaning against it as she peered outside. The world was illuminated by the full moon. She forced herself to note the flowers in the courtyard. The ivy creeping over a white lattice wall. The roses that framed the park bench. She was not immune to the romance of the scene, and for some reason it made her feel even sadder.

She closed her eyes and fought the tears welling inside. She breathed in, and then out, focusing on the part of her that was so tired. She'd not been sleeping well. As soon as she focused on it the feeling grew, draining her of the energy that was keeping her going. The tiredness was safe to focus on, to observe, so she devoted her attention to it.

Eventually she decided she needed to get to bed. She opened her eyes, and to her surprise she didn't see the inn, but the room she had grown up in. But finding herself in that room was not what surprised her. She had dreamed she was home in Zefiel City plenty of times before. No, what surprised her, in addition to being cognizant of the fact that she was dreaming, was seeing her sleeping form on the bed.

Suddenly she sensed something behind the curtained window, but it was not malevolent. She shook her head. So it was one of _those_ dreams where a handsome stranger sneaks into her room, overwhelmed by the power of her beauty to seduce her. But why wasn't she in her body?

The curtains blew back as the window was thrown open, and Lina was caressed by the cool night air. Her image was also woken, and she stared at the window in astonishment. "Gourry?" she said.

Lina, still leaning against the door, felt her lip tremble. What was he doing in her dream of seduction!? Still, she had to admit he did look dashing as he sat on her window ledge, his golden hair blowing in the breeze. "Lina." He breathed, as though her name were life itself.

Lina felt her throat go tight again as she wondered why she was having a dream like this, and why now. Meanwhile, her image threw off her covers, revealing a white lace nightie the likes of which she never wore. Still, Lina had to admire herself, with her chestnut hair draped across her shoulders, and the way her nightie showed off her breasts, which were considerably larger in her dream.

The room pulsed with a latent charge, and she watched as her image shot out of bed and into his arm, wrapping him into a tight embrace as she asked, "How?"

He leaned down to kiss her on the lips, and Lina watched in wonder as, gauging from the blissful expression on her face, she enjoyed it. He broke off and touched his forehead to hers. "I got away."

"From Hellmaster?" she asked as she caressed his back, bringing her lips up for another kiss, leaving the real Lina in awe. "But how?"

He reached a hand out to caress her cheek as he looked deeply into her eyes. "I'm your guardian. Not even Hellmaster could keep me from you."

Never in her life could Lina remember feeling such yearning! Yearning to wake up and find that he really had escaped, that he felt something for her so strong that it overpowered an evil as mighty as Hellmaster! Yearning to find him safe with her, to hear those words from the real Gourry, for the real Gourry to kiss her like the dream one was kissing her image, breaking away only to whisper, "I love you," into her ear.

As Lina watched her image mirror his declaration, she seemed to crumble under the weight of the realization of how unfair it was. The real Gourry was being held captive by Hellmaster, and the only chance she had to get him back was a desperate long shot.

This couldn't have happened! It wasn't supposed to be like this!

Her bedroom dissolved like an ink picture left in the rain as a sob so forceful it tore through her throat erupted. The world spun, and suddenly she hit the floor of the inn with an all too real crash. She opened her eyes, staring at the chair by the window that she had fallen out of, feeling sore on the outside and the rawness of the emotions she had been suppressing for so long on the inside.

Rage, grief, loss, and fear beyond anything she had ever felt before because Gourry was in the clutches of Hellmaster, Gourry, not just her companion or her self-proclaimed guardian, but someone she had fallen in love with…

She shut her eyes, already overflowing with tears as her emotions burned so hot they seared her brain. Realizing what he meant to her unleashed a fright so primal that it was unlike anything she had experienced before.

She curled into a fetal position as another sob escaped her lips. It was too loud! Zel, Amelia, hell, _Sylphiel_ might hear and decide to investigate. But she could not suppress them. They came out in horrifically loud moans, rattling her body so fiercely that she wondered if she would shatter.

She hadn't meant to fall in love…


End file.
